Vampire Diaries Spoilers: Will the Ripper Return?

Right now, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) is the Salvatore we’re worrying about on The Vampire Diaries— his turn to vampire cannibalism not only endangers himself, but almost all of his loved ones. But maybe we should be keeping a better eye on Stefan (Paul Wesley). Baby bro is currently in Savior Mode, but could that change sometime soon? Is the Ripper set to return?

“Just wrapped Day One of shooting with @paulwesley. He killed it! Like a Ripper,” TVD writer Brian Young just tweeted last night.

“(Quite literally in that last scene.) Thanks for the kind words,” Paul tweeted back at Brian. Wait a minute...does that mean Ripper Stefan is out to kill again? How and why does this happen? And where is Damon in all of this? It’s hard to imagine how TVD will get from where it is now to what this Twitter convo is hinting at.

If this vampire cannibal storyline does continue, we wonder if Stefan might too become infected by the serum. A Ripper Stefan who feeds on human is scary enough — can you imagine a Ripper Stefan made stronger and faster by his bloodlust for vampire blood? No one in Mystic Falls would be safe.

Another possibility is that Stefan’s possible upcoming turn to Ripper-dom has something to do with the Travelers and the buckets o’ doppelganger blood they currently have lying around. In Season 5, Episode 11, the Travelers drained quite a bit of blood from both Stefan and Elena. Might they use it to turn Stefan into a Ripper again? Or to control him in some other way? Or, perhaps, Stefan’s turn to the dark side is let about a Big Bad controlling him and more about him fighting back against a Big Bad? It wouldn’t be the first time Stefan turned Ripper to protect the ones he loves.

Do you think Ripper Stefan will make another appearance? If so, what causes it? Share your theories in the comments below!

Catch the next episode of The Vampire Diaries on Thursday, February 27 at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.

Kayti Burt is a contributing writer for Wetpaint Entertainment with a penchant for all things pop culture. Follow her on Twitter and Google+!